Emerald Green
by polka spots
Summary: A series of one shots, fluffy and romantic, about a particular moment in 70s Hogwarts... Completed!
1. The Romantic Side of Potter

James stared at her from across the common room. He couldn't move his eyes, he was completely addicted to gazing at her, and there was nothing that could prevent him from doing so. Everything about her was positively captivating, her stunning green eyes, her thick red hair that she always insisted on wearing in a tight pony tail, and the cute little frown she had on her face at the moment as she immersed herself in study for the upcoming NEWTs.

He admitted to himself fairly recently that he had NOT been going about the right sort of attitude to make it clear to her that he was most certainly infatuated with everything about her. His incessant pestering and continual pompous behaviour was, according to him, probably the most ridiculous way to get her attention, but he was just too shy to tell her how he really felt about her.

He was rather confident in that fact that she truly hated him. He knew that because of the six years of constant jeering he would hardly stand any chance with her, but she was far too brilliant, far too gorgeous and far too perfect to give up on now. James had rationalised his attitude. He figured that if he didn't change himself, or tell her how he honestly felt about her, that he would never see her again. School was nearly over, and they would never have to return, and the feeling made James feel helpless and slightly ill, he knew that he would miss her so much that stalking would have to be a probable option.

Since first year, when he accidentally sent his seven chocolate frogs loose on her, James had felt something for her, that made strange jolts often occur in his stomach region. Pondering on those years made James realise that he had genuinely committed the crime that most other boys desperately attempt to deny. He had teased her because he liked her! And he teased her so much.

How to tell her without having her shout, "Leave me alone you annoying piece of scum!" was James' largest problem. He knew he'd have to be something that he spent a majority of his time bottling up, in order to prepare himself from endless taunts from Sirius for what would seem like several hundred years. He had to be romantic. He had to make telling her how much he wanted to be with her as wonderful as it could possibly be.

It would be a complete failure if he simply walked over to her and said "Hey, Evans, how about you date me?" That line was a complete tragedy. He had said it to her 53 in the past year, as Sirius, who insisted on keeping a running tally, constantly reminded him. He would have to do something that she wouldn't expect, call her by her first name, explain to her why he had been such a rude and ridiculous show-off for the past six years.

She turned the pages of the book she was reading so intensely and James decided that he needed to do it now. While she was unaccompanied by her hordes of friends, while she wasn't thinking entirely about how much she hated him. He stood up and walked over to her, preparing himself for the absolute worst. As he approached her he noticed that she had now begun to bury her head into her small hands.

He stood next to the couch which contained her, and her large pile of books.

"Evans?"

He was answered with a sniff.

"No, Potter," she sobbed.

James could feel his gut perform a lurch, and a feeling of terrible sadness. He had never, not once, seen her cry. He sat next to her, shifting aside a copy of 'Advanced Transfiguration and its Advantages in Kitchens', and attempted to place his arm on hers reassuringly.

"D-d-don't," she managed to mutter.

"No, I'm leaving my hand right where it is, until you're smiling that cute smile you have again."

James was convinced he heard a small laugh underneath the sobs.

"Tell me, Evans, what's doing this to you?"

"W-w-well, I'm j-just so tired and s-stressed, and I c-can't t-transfigure toasters properly, a-and you've b-b-been staring at me f-for ages."

"You can perfectly transfigure a toaster, Evans, you did it four times in class the other day, and I remember being extremely jealous."

She did another giggle, and James' gut lurched again, but he was sure this time it wasn't to do with sadness. She lifted her hands away, revealing pink splotchy face, but realising James was next to her, she immediately recoiled again.

"Don't be ridiculous, Evans. Who wouldn't want to see that face?"

"Thanks, P-Potter."

"Evans, there's something, well, er, important that I need to talk to you about. And it might explain why I've been staring at you for nearly two hours now."

"O-oh? If you're g-going to a-ask me out y-you know what th-the answer is."

"No, I'm not going to ask you out, Evans. There's just something I want to tell you, and then after you hear it I promise you will never have to put up with me again if you don't want."

"C-continue…" She was listening closely, while the tears were ceasing.

"When I spilt seven Chocolate frogs on you on the train in first year, it wasn't because I felt like being horrible to you. It was because eleven year old James thought that you were cute. And in second year, when I didn't stop calling you a know-it-all, it wasn't because I wanted you to feel stupid, it was because I admired the way you were so smart. And in the rest of the years, when I was acting, well, stupidly, it wasn't because I wanted to be known as the popular one with all the girls, it was because I wanted to impress someone. Er, you. But I failed dismally."

She sat back, waiting for him to continue.

"And this year, well, I haven't done anything to you. I haven't done anything to anyone, except myself. I've spent all year telling myself how that if I don't do something soon, I'm going to never see you again, and spend my entire life wishing I had you, or start stalking."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Every day, since first year, there's been this thing that's getting stronger and stronger and I know that if I don't share it with someone soon, I'm going to explode, or have to transfigure myself into a toaster, or anything that doesn't have feelings."

"Potter, you're rambling."

"Okay, okay. Well, you see the things that's getting stronger and stronger is, well, errr, its um, I, ah..."

"Please say it", she paused, "James."

"I love you, Lily. So much. And I don't think I could bear having to live my life without you in it."

"Did I ever tell you, James, that you've been perfect this year?"

He beamed.

"I love you, Lily."

"And you've been so cute?"

"I love you, Lily."

"And that was so romantic?"

"I love you, Lily."

"And that I do want to put up with you again? A lot more from now on?"

"I love you, Lily."

"And that I know that I love you too, James?"

And then she kissed him.

A/N: I'll continue to make this a series of fluffy one shots, just like my other story 'Because You're You'… read it if you like Ron/Hermione fluff!

Also, I love reviews. Every time I get one, I feel compelled to write more and update five times as often, so PLEASE REVIEW!!! :) You'll make my day!


	2. The Penseive

Lily was quite sure that she hated him. James Potter. The name made her feel rather sick, sick of his pathetic attitude due to the large swelling of his head. Frustrated, and incredibly tired, Lily threw herself onto her bed in the seventh year girl's dormitory, and thought about what had just happened for the 54th time. James _stinking_ Potter had asked her out again. Not making any real effort, at all. He simply shouted his usual line – "Hey Evans! How about you go out with me?" across the common room, obviously still suffering from the same pathetic illusion that she was going to fall head over heels for him.

Lily glanced out of the window from the dormitory to the clock tower, and decided that past midnight was far too late for anyone to still be left in the common room, especially James, and that it would be safe for her to collect her school work which was left behind her as she stormed out in rage. She slipped into a robe, and began to walk quietly down the stairs to the common room.

As she reached the table where her homework was still scattered, she saw none other than James fast asleep on the chair. Trying to be as quiet as she possibly could, Lily gathered her transfiguration essay and shoved it into her bag, but paused suddenly when she noticed a brown package lying on the table. It had only to words on it, neither explaining who was leaving the package and why. The only two words on there were 'Lily Potter.' "As if!" she snorted to herself, but did not hesitate to curiously open the package.

She instantly recognised it as a penseive, swirling with what seemed like thick silver liquid. Lily knew better than to play with this, it could be something someone did not want her to see, but it was addressed to her, and the feeling of sheer curiosity that was consuming her was far too much, and she leaned her head over the penseive.

Eleven year old James Potter was standing on the Hogwarts express, holding several open packets of chocolate frogs in his hand. Opposite him, was a young Lily, who was covered in squirming chocolate frogs, obviously terrified – as she thought that they were real. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew stood laughing behind him, as James pulled an innocent face, and said "sorry… I must have slipped." Lily threw him a dirty look, tossed her red hair hard over her shoulder, and stormed away into another compartment. James was treated to several pats on the shoulder and words of congratulations from the three boys, and he then said, "I couldn't help it! She's kinda cute!"

Twelve year old James Potter was sitting in transfiguration, aimlessly drawing on his page, he threw a glance across the class to Lily, who had her head bent over scribbling the notes from the board with a look of intense concentration that he found rather attractive. He started writing her name on his piece of parchment, and tracing over it until the ink was wearing through. A young looking Professor McGonagall asked a question to the class, that sounded blurred to James, but Lily's hand shot up in the air instantly, and answered. When McGonagall congratulated her with a "Well done Miss Evans!" James laughed and retorted with, "Well done Miss Evans, for being an utter know-it-all!" He was given a detention and a nasty look from Lily's direction, but still muttered under his breath, "I can't believe how incredibly smart that girl is…." his parchment now reading 'Lily Evans, the gorgeous genius.'

Thirteen year old James Potter was standing in the common room putting on his clothes for Hogsmeade, getting ready to empty his pockets of change in Honeydukes and Zonkos. About to leave the common room, he paused when he saw Lily walking down from the dormitories, and said heartily "Evans!" She tossed her hair again, like she always did when she was frustrated, grunted "Potter" back in his direction, and then tried to leave. "Hey Evans, how about you go out with me?" James asked her for the first time. Lily laughed at him and left the common room, leaving James standing alone. His face had fallen, sadness and disappointment turning all his features dull. He sat down on the common room floor looking extremely teary and mumbled to himself, "Maybe next time."

Fourteen year old James Potter was walking into the great hall for breakfast rather late, when he spotted Lily sitting at the Gryffindor table alone. Smiling, he sat down next to her, and brightly greeted her with "Morning Evans!" She glared into her breakfast cereal, obviously recognising the person who was taking his seat next to her. "Potter, don't even think about trying to ask…."

"Hey Evans, how about you go out with me?"

"I told you not to bother asking."

They continued in silence, with James looking sideways at Lily more often than he was raising his spoon to his mouth. In fact, the spoon was just moving around on the table, scratching. Finally, Lily stood up,

"Potter, that scratching is so bloody annoying."

"Evans, that attitude is so bloody annoying."

And she left in a huff, leaving James to finish carving 'L.E.' into the table in the great hall.

Fifteen year old James Potter was sitting by the lake, surrounded by Sirius, Remus and Peter. Lily had just stormed off, leaving him to deal with the aftermath of being called a 'toe rag.' Sirius tried to tell him that he could have any girl in the school. James replied with that he only wanted Lily. Remus told him that he should lose some of his ego, and James said to him that he would for Lily. Peter told him that Lily was a pretty girl, and James told him that Lily was the most incredible, beautiful person in the universe.

Sixteen year old James Potter was standing in the hall blocking Lily's entrance to the common room. "Let me in!" she screeched. Lily tried to move James' arms away from the portrait hole, but he wouldn't budge.

"Hey Evans, how about you go out with me?"

"I will if you let me in."

James gasped, and dropped his arms immediately, as he let Lily climb through the portrait hole.

"Kidding Potter! I'd never go out with you. Ever. The chances of me going out with you are about as great as Sirius being sent to Azkaban for helping Voldemort." Lily shut the portrait hole in his face. James slid down the painting onto the floor, feeling completely helpless. He started to cry. Lightly at first, but it became extremely heavy, and he couldn't control himself. He wept. He was about to raise his hands to cover his face, but the backs of them were covered in 'J.P & L.E', which made him cry even harder. The fat lady looked down at him, "There, there. There are plenty of fish in the sea." James turned his spotty face to her and replied,

"But I love her."

Twenty five year old James Potter was sitting in a large white house, staring out the window. He had a large grin on his face when he turned back to face a room which was newly decorated as a nursery, and saw Lily tucking a small baby into a crib. He walked over to her, hugged her tightly, and said, "I can't believe all I've been through to get you, and finally Harry." Lily smiled at him, and kissed him softly. "I can't believe I spent too much time hating you, you perfect perfect man!"

When Lily returned to the common room after spending what felt like forever in the penseive, she sat down on the floor with her jaw hanging open trying to understand what she had just seen. James Potter? Really loved her? Had thought about marrying her? Spent all his time torturing her, because he wanted her more than anything?

She was positively stunned.

She turned to look at James, who was still sleeping on the couch behind her, and felt a sudden pang of guilt. She had been so horrible to him. She had made him cry! And, when Lily continued to dwell on what she had seen, she felt even worse for thinking only a few hours ago that she hated him. Crawling over to the couch, she moved close to James, and stared up at him from the floor, drawing her face to him so that they were level. She stared at him for a long time, her breathing becoming heavy on his face.

"Sirius, I don't wanna go to the kitchens and get food now!" James mumbled in his sleep. He scrunched up his face, and opened his eyes and gasped when he saw Lily sitting barely inches away from him.

"Evans!"

"Potter."

"I, what, er, what are you doing?"

James glanced at the table and saw that the penseive was sitting there, out of its brown packaging. He turned a deep shade of crimson, which happened very rarely, as he realised what Lily must have seen.

"I saw that, Potter," she whispered softly to him.

"You, erm, weren't meant to see that until Christmas, Evans," James muttered back shyly.

"I think I needed to see it now, I would have hated to see on Christmas day how horrible I've made you feel in between now and then."

"So, y-you didn't like it??" James asked, horrified with himself.

"No no! I loved it Potter. It was the most beautiful gift. I thought that every one of those occasions you were just finding an excuse to ridicule me, and now, now I know better!"

James began to smile again.

"Hey, James?"

James looked at her, gaping, she had called him by his name, and for what he was relatively sure was the first time.

"Yes, Lily?"

"How about you go out with me? You perfect perfect guy."

He beamed. James had never been happier.


	3. The Battle With Hate

James had an exceptional talent for being able to make her angry. Lily was convinced he knew exactly what he needed to tell her to make her stamp her feet in frustration and storm off to her dormitory. She never understood why he constantly bothered to shout his usual "Hey Evans, how about you go out with me?" she always assumed that it was to annoy her and remind her that he was an immature show off.

Admittedly, Lily had started to realise, he had been much more well-behaved this year. It had been two months since he tried to torment his last Slytherin, and he was beginning to resist the way he ridiculously fluffed his hair every time a member of the female population graced him with their presence. He was becoming tolerable, but Lily still knew that despite his seemingly appropriate exterior, he was still a conceited chauvinist beneath the surface.

Why he always seemed to never have a girlfriend was a question Lily constantly asked herself. He was good looking, she knew that was a fact, but he never had girlfriends. Sirius had once joked that it was because James was hopelessly in love with her, but Lily knew that this was indeed a load of rubbish. If he really did like her, he would make some effort, instead of yelling a trademark line to her every second evening.

Remus tried talking to her about James once, she remembered. While doing prefect duties together, he asked her why she hated him so much, and she proceeded to explain for almost half an hour about how much of a useless, annoying and rude person he is. When she had finished, Remus simply smiled at her, and said that James really wasn't bad when you got to know him and if she would only speak to him, she might learn some things that would entirely change her opinion about him. Had he been right?

Even little Peter tried saying something to her. On a particular evening in the Gryffindor common room, the tiny boy tried telling her that she would upset James if she kept saying awful things about him. Lily thought it was kind of Peter to stand up for his friend, but she would never stop hating James, until he started treating her, and other people with respect. Then, on that evening, James shouted his line across the common room; she thought that he would never learn.

That same night, when everyone had left the common room, after little Peter hopelessly tried to convince her that James was decent; Lily was left alone doing her homework, with nothing to entertain her except the crackling of the fire. She could barely concentrate, she was so tired, and annoyed that James had the nerve to bother her again. As she ruffled her pieces of parchment to put them away, and leave the common room, her gaze passed over the table where James and the other Gryffindor boys usually sat. She paused, stunned for a moment, when she saw that repeatedly carved on the table were neat, small initials. 'L.E.' _Her_ initials.

Still extremely shocked, she wondered who would be doing this. It couldn't have been a coincidence; her initials were there six times. She counted. Holding her parchment in one hand, she traced her other fingers over the carvings, they were deep, as though someone had been etching them deeper and deeper for a long time. Her hand slid to the end of the table, where she felt the straps of a bag lying on the floor that someone had forgotten to return to their dormitory. Picking it up to return it, she noticed that it was James', and she suddenly felt an urge to open it. Just to see what he had inside. It was most likely some spell book telling him the best hex for tormenting the Slytherins next, she thought.

Placing her parchment on the table, she opened the bag, preparing to see nothing less than expected spell book. Instead she found several quills, 'Transfiguration at NEWT Level', a large piece of parchment which looked very old and useless, and underneath that, what looked like piles and piles of notes from class. Lily was impressed, she thought that James did nothing but interrupt and occasionally jeer at her in class. She lifted out the parchment, looking forward to seeing notes that could have possibly helped her. She read them and let out a small gasp.

The first piece was obviously from History of Magic. A very very poor drawing (though Lily believe he intended it that way) of Professor Binns graced the top half of the parchment. What made her gasp was not Professor Binns though; it was that her name was written on the parchment, neatly, and not just once. 17 times. The second piece of parchment was similar, with the letters 'J.P & L.E' repeated. She sifted through the rest of them briefly until it had sunk in, that James had at least 12 pages of parchment completely dedicated to drawing her name.

Sitting down, rather confused, she placed the things back in James' bag and returned to staring at the table looking at her initials. James had done this. James, who she had spent so much time hating, and ignoring every moment that he hinted that he might have liked her. Gazing into the air, she thought about this, while absent-mindedly tracing her fingers over the letters on the table.

"There's one for every year," a soft voice said behind her.

Shocked for the second time that night, Lily didn't need to turn around to figure out who was speaking to her.

"There's probably about 50 other desks in the school with the same thing on them as well," he spoke again, this time grinning mischievously.

"Bu- but you like to make me miserable!" Lily spluttered, turning around to face James Potter, who was still wearing striped pyjamas.

"You like making me feel like a snobby know-it-all, and that I'm really stuck up and…" Lily trailed off as James began to shake his head.

"I happen to hate making you feel like that," he paused, "Lily."

"Y-you do?"

"I would think that it would be obvious, to someone as incredibly smart as yourself. I can't stop thinking of you, and I can assure you that every single thought I've had has been wonderful," he smiled at her.

Lily felt so confused that she wanted to stop thinking all together. One part of her was urging her fight with him, to tell him that no matter what he said she would still think he was a toe rag. But the other part of her was realising that he was in actual fact, quite serious. That he **had** liked her for 6 years, and that he **did** want to go out with her. She snapped out of her thoughts, however, when she realised that James was still smiling at her.

"You look so cute every time you have an inner battle with yourself like that Lily."

Turning bright pink, she tried so hard to force herself to say her usual "Shut up, Potter," and leave the common room with her homework which was now lying neglected. Instead, she could simply muster a stuttered,

"I do?"

He nodded at her, and stepped closer to her, his striped pyjamas and messy hair becoming so much more attractive suddenly. Lily couldn't manage to say anything further, she was starting to realise that so many things about James really weren't so horrible, and that he was being genuinely gorgeous. Opening her mouth to tell James that she thought he was equally as cute in his pyjamas, she found herself held in one of the tightest and most wonderful embraces she had ever been in.

"James…"

"Lily?"

"I, I don't think I hate you anymore."

"Well, this is a nice start," he responded cheekily.

"James, I really quite like you," and she hugged him tighter.

"Lily, I absolutely adore you," and he kissed her.

A/N: Only one left to go now… :)

Reviews: Please, please please!!!!


	4. The Tale Worth 20 Galleons

**Disclaimer: **The characters aren't mine, but gosh I wish they were!

**A/N:** This is the last one-shot of this series! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

* * *

Harry stumbled into the kitchen at Grimmauld place rather late that night. He couldn't sleep well, and his stomach was constantly reminding him that he most certainly didn't eat enough for dinner. Drowsily placing his hands on the kitchen table in search for some food, Harry could hardly notice Professor Lupin sitting at the table, bent over writing. 

"Professor! I didn't mean to disturb you, I…"

Harry trailed off when Lupin gave him a large smile from across the table.

"I've actually been waiting for you Harry. You didn't eat nearly as much as usual for dinner, I was hoping you'd come down here."

Harry grinned sheepishly.

"What did you want me for Professor, have I done something wrong?"

"No, Harry, not at all, I was just thinking about that moment during your fifth year when you saw that particular memory of your parents. It wasn't the most, accurate, representation of them, and I was wondering if you would like to know what really happened? To ease your mind, say?"

Harry didn't need to say anything to thank Professor Lupin, the smile on his face gave the meaning of his answer in its entirety. Of course Harry wanted to know the story, his parents getting married and having him was a flabbergasting thought, seeing as they appeared to hate each other so much.

"Well, Harry, it started in seventh year, after Sirius and I had given a bit of a worded discussion to your father…"

* * *

"Yeah, and James no matter what you do don't try showing off around her."

"Try not to fluff your hair so much, she hates that!"

James looked exasperated. After his latest 'Lily rejection', as he now referred to them, he had become absolutely stumped as to how he would manage to snag her, and Sirius and Remus were trying very hard to help. She was too perfect, and gorgeous and wonderful, but hated him with every ounce of hatred she possessed. James was completely at a loss.

"Maybe I should just give up? We all know she's never going to fancy me…"

Sirius burst into severe fits of laughter.

"James, mate, you have said that same thing about four times a year, since you started liking Lily, which means you've said it…. 28 times! Face it, you aren't ever going to give up on her."

"You're right. I don't think I can."

Remus finally interjected, "James, if it means so much to you, start treating her like you would if she was your girlfriend. Stop calling her 'Evans' all the time. You know she hates that. Start complimenting her instead of calling her a know-it-all all the time! You aren't going to get anywhere like you are now."

James sighed. He knew they were both right, he'd never give up on her, he had liked her since he met her on the train in first year. And he also knew that he would most certainly have to start behaving around her. If only she knew how much he wanted to be able to hold her, and tell her how beautiful she was. Deciding that he couldn't waste his last chance at convincing Lily he was crazy about her, James vowed to himself that he would behave from now on, regardless of the effects.

* * *

Harry was grinning just as much as Lupin was with these memories.

"My dad behaving himself for some girl? I thought it would never happen!"

Lupin laughed appreciatively, "I know, we found it equally as amusing. We never thought he'd take our advice, but he did."

"What did my dad do?"

"Well, it wasn't without humour, I assure you!"

* * *

When James, Sirius and Remus reached the common room, soon to be joined by Peter, James instantly spotted his favourite mass of red hair sitting by the fire. He gazed longingly over in her direction, only snapped out of his state when Lily's friends started laughing at him. He didn't think he could feel any worse. Pulling himself gradually together, he started deciding how exactly he was going to behave…

The conversation between the boys was growing dull, and James had taken to staring at Lily again when he noticed that she was about to stand up from her chair. Remembering he had to be behaved, he darted instantly to Lily's chair and pulled it out from underneath her.

"There you are, my lady."

Lily's friends could have cracked several ribs from laughter. Her face turned the same shade of red as her hair, and whispered furiously, "Stop it, Potter!" She turned instead to sit back down, while James neatly pushed the chair underneath her again.

"There you are, my lady."

She simply hissed at him.

"Oi!" James turned to answer the call from Sirius.

"James, I'm about to stand up, you better get over here! Pull out my chair, mate!"

As he turned to leave, Lily shouted out after him, "Leave me alone, Potter." He felt even worse again for the third time that day.

* * *

"Oh, my dad was such a prat!" 

Lupin laughed again, "Yes, it was one extreme or the other for James. Except this day really hit him hard. I think this was the day that he realised…."

"He was madly in love with mum?"

"You couldn't have put it better, Harry."

* * *

Sitting alone in the dormitory had James feeling quite depressed and hurt. Staring dejectedly at the carved 'L.E' on his bedpost, James kicked his bedside cupboard and starting cursing himself. He was pushing her further and further away. It was hopeless. She would never ever like him. And he would always love her. Today had been enough to prove it clearly to him. That he was so in love with Lily he couldn't help it anymore, he felt he couldn't be without her for much longer, otherwise he would positively explode.

When Remus pulled back his hangings, James smiled a small, but helpless smile.

"James, I think you were, well, a bit too well behaved."

"Well, thanks for stating the obvious Moony."

"Perhaps next time you can just ignore her? Maybe she'll be surprised to see that you aren't being a jeering 'jerk' for a change…"

"Thanks mate."

James turned over in his bed, and tried to sleep, but the thought of having to ignore Lily was clouding his mind, and he felt so genuinely sad that it had to resort to this.

The next morning, after making his way gradually down to the great hall for breakfast, James took his usual seat and said nothing. He merely pushed his spoon around his bowl hoping for something interesting to happen. Lily, who preferred to sit as distanced from him as possible raised her eyebrows slightly, noting that he wasn't teasing, or jeering or even saying anything for a change. Even she noticed he looked sad. Almost opening her mouth to say something, she clamped it firmly shut, stopping herself before she did something she would regret. A silent James was a true blessing, she had decided, and would enjoy eating her breakfast in peace, unaware she was occasionally throwing a sideways look at James.

The day changed barely. James was still quiet and dismal looking, and Lily was still furtive and concerned about this change in the usual show-off, pompous clown she was so used to. What had happened to him? What could have possibly caused James to be so dismal? For a brief moment, it crossed Lily's mind that she could have offended him. But she dismissed it almost straight away; everyone knew that James was only being rude to her. It was only ever Sirius who shouted 'James wants you, big time, Lily!', and he was almost as unreliable as James.

* * *

"Poor dad!" 

"We all felt sorry for him by this stage, Harry. Infact, so sorry, that we were betting on the outcome, the caring friends we were!"

Harry laughed.

"Well, I'm guessing it worked, didn't it?"

"Oh yes, Harry, Sirius had them together by Christmas…"

* * *

"Remus, I bet you 10 galleons they're together by Christmas."

"Sirius, you don't have 10 galleons to bet."

"I wont need them Moony! I'm going to win!"

"You're going to have Lily Evans and James Potter snogging in almost 24 hours? Impossible."

"It is not! Did you seem them today? Lily couldn't stop looking at him! She was worried, that silent treatment was the best thing he ever did, did you get him doing that?"

"Yeah, I did Padfoot, but that doesn't mean you're going to have them together in a day. I'm in."

"Oi, Wormtail! Wanna bet on Lily and James snogging in a day?"

While the boys made their bets about the elusive event, James was walking helplessly around the castle. For a whole day he had said nothing to her. He even stopped doing his favourite thing, which was shouting 'Hey Evans!' after going to the corridors near her classes, because he had her timetable memorised. What was making James so incredibly sad, though, was not missing out on his fun, but the fact that she didn't even care about why he was so quiet. She said nothing. She just carried on, hating him, he guessed.

"Potter?"

He stopped walking around the corridors instantly. He knew that voice from anywhere. That voice could make him melt, and his heart race both simultaneously. It was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.

"Evans," he mumbled back, turning around to face her, with his head not moving from the spot on the carpet at her feet.

"I've been looking for you all night Potter. Not that I really am that concerned, but why are you so glum today? I couldn't help but thinking something bad has happened… If you don't want to talk about it, I don't mind…"

"No, no, Evans it's fine. I'm just, well, doing something for someone I love very much, and it's eating away at me, that's all."

"Oh," she mumbled back. She was convinced now. There was no way that he could love her. He had just said it himself. Trying to appear relieved, she couldn't help but feel rather odd on the inside. Had she really been enjoying the fact that James wanted her?

"Well, sorry to hear that Potter, I hope things work out," and she took off for Gryffindor tower feeling somewhat empty and confused.

* * *

"So, mum enjoyed it when dad tormented her?" 

"It appears so Harry."

"Well, she did a bloody good job of hiding it Professor!"

"She did. It was Sirius who managed to get everything in motion though, him and his lust for winning, that bet was almost entirely responsible for your parents relationship…"

"That's why Sirius was so great!" Harry replied, feeling a slight pang of sadness after mentioning him, this made him miss Sirius more.

* * *

When Lily arrived back in Gryffindor tower she was so incredibly confused she didn't know what to do. Half of her wished to storm right up to Remus, whom she trusted most out of the boys, and demand that he tell her who James loved. The other half, who she wished she was listening to more, was telling her to continue hating James and go and sit with the girls. Curiosity got the better of her. 

"Remus!"

"Yes, Lily?"

"Tell me what is wrong with James."

"Well, I don't really think I should do that Lily, that's his personal problem…"

"Not when he tells me that he's doing something bad for someone he loves and I have NO idea who that person is!"

All three boys shifted uncomfortably.

"Honestly, is someone breaking his heart? Because that person needs to have a stern talking to…"

"Well, you're in for a rough night!" Sirius chanted eagerly.

"What did you just say?" Lily asked curiously.

"I said, er, isn't snow a pretty sight?"

She looked at him with pure disgust.

"Anyway Lils," Sirius chose to ignore her increasingly furious face, "Why do YOU suddenly care so much about Jamesy? You're not starting to like him are you?"

"Of course not," she replied, a little too fast and high pitched.

Storming off back to the fireplace with her friends, Lily sat down in a huff, without taking her eyes away from the portrait hole, hoping he would come back inside soon. She didn't want him to be miserable on Christmas day.

James didn't arrive until late that evening, when the entire Gryffindor common room was empty. He quietly made his way up to his dormitory, and climbed inside his bed, quite sure he heard the scratching of a quill from Sirius' direction. Dismissing this entirely, James fell to sleep, hoping that he wouldn't have to spend Christmas day ignoring Lily.

The morning was cold, but the snow was sparkling outside the tower windows, and as James walked down into the common room to greet his friends, he couldn't help but wish he was outside with Lily walking around in the beautiful scenery, holding her hand, and then leaning in closer to…

"James! Where were you last night mate, you missed a nice and angry Lily, wish you'd have seen it."

"Shut up, Sirius."

"Oh, and Merry Christmas to you too mate!"

"It won't be merry if I have to ignore her again."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that mate… she was right worried about you last night."

"Really?" James asked, far more eagerly than what he was hoping to sound.

"Yeah! She was even asking about the girl who's breaking your heart, and how she deserves to suffer. I told her she'd have a rough night, but I don't think she… hey! Here comes the little ray of sunshine now!"

James' heart leapt when he saw her walking down the steps into the common room wearing a white dressing robe and fluffy little slippers. Merlin, she was so cute. Without noticing that Sirius was fleeing from the common room, Lily approached James almost smiling, and said "Potter, what's this about?" holding up a sheet of parchment in her hand.

She was standing right infront of him, so close that he could reach out and feel her small hands, and pull her in closer so he could hold her. He couldn't draw himself away from her, she was so beautiful. Obviously noticing that James wasn't paying attention to anything she was trying to say, she pulled on his sleeve.

"James?"

He snapped out of his daze almost immediately, however, his heart choosing to skip a beat this very same time. He let the sound of her voice saying his name ring in his ears. James. She said his name.

"Yes, Lily?"

"Are you going to tell me the meaning of this?" she asked him again, showing him the piece of parchment.

It was only one sentence long, but James recognised the handwriting instantly, and wanted to both hug and murder Sirius at the same time.

_'I really said "you're going to have a rough night", and you haven't entirely broken his heart, not yet.'_

James looked sheepishly up at Lily, who was now most definitely smiling at him.

"Does this mean what I think it means, James?"

"Er, yeah it does."

"Will you do me one favour, please James?"

"Anything, my lady!"

"Don't give any girls the silent treatment again, or they'll all fall in love with you."

"You're, you, wait, what? You're in love with me? With… me?"

She smiled.

Without thinking a second longer, not wanting to waste a single moment, or chance that he might have with her, he pulled her right into him and gently pressed his lips against hers. They stood there kissing for what seemed to be like forever, and neither of them wanted it to end.

When they finally stopped, James beamed at her,

"I am so in love with you Lily."

And he kissed her again.

They didn't even notice Sirius, who insisted on jumping around the common room joyfully shouting,

"It's a merry 20 galleon-ish Christmas for me!"

* * *

"I didn't know my dad was so romantic!"

"To tell you the truth Harry, neither did we!"

"Did you give Sirius his 10 galleons?"

"No, he was too busy teasing Lily about hating James to notice that Peter and I didn't pay him anything."

Harry laughed again, this time trying to prevent a huge yawn.

"And on that note Harry, you should eat and go to bed."

Harry did, and wished secretly that he was more like his dad in that particular department.


End file.
